Archive for February, 2010

I was curious who ended up winning the NAPT Venetian which I played last weekend and had to google the name “Tom Marchese”. Not only did I learn that he plays online as kingsofcards, a tough regular whom I avoid at 25/50, but I also found this kind of old but interesting interview with him. It’s not very long, but it’s a nice picture of what it takes to break through the “ceiling” of the mid-stakes games and start winning at high stakes poker:

For me my biggest problem was that I was always playing 9-12 tables. Because of this, I was making a lot of money but never really working on my game and improving. I think this is a problem that many mid stakes players struggle with as to improve and move up they most likely will need to sacrifice a little bit in the short run in order to progress as a player. I also found that playing heads up greatly improved my hand reading skills along with improving my game in blind battles and when playing OOP. Most of my success at the 5/10 – 25/50 level has come when I was playing 1-5 tables and truly concentrating on every hand instead of just going through the motions.  Read the complete post...

Versus a Scandi, no less!

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (7 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($1507.85)
Hero (BB) ($1405.25)
UTG ($1047)
MP1 ($1395)
MP2 ($1000)
CO ($808)
Button ($1741.25)

Preflop: Hero is BB with J, 5
5 folds, SB bets $30, Hero calls $20

Flop: ($60) 8, 6, K (2 players)
SB bets $40, Hero raises to $105, SB calls $65

Turn: ($270) 10 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($270) A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $270, SB raises to $1372.85 (All-In), Hero calls $1000.25 (All-In)

Total pot: $2810.50 | Rake: $3

Results:
SB had Q, 10 (flush, Ace high).
Hero had J, 5 (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: SB won $2807.50

I pot the river precisely because I think it will make my hand look like flush/bluff. Villain pretty much always has showdown value here, so if he’s raising, it means he can beat most flushes, and I just don’t see him feeling that way with a T-high flush. Not that it’s relevant here because he doesn’t and apparently I’m not, but if Villain knows I’m making laydowns like this, then he ought to bluff any time he has the bare Qc.

I was playing some rush poker the other day when this hand came up against allinstevie. I recognized him from MTT’s and sit-and-go’s and quickly wrote him off as just another tourney donk. He went on to show me that he had a little tricky in him:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $2.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($221.05)
UTG ($200)
MP ($359.95)
CO ($212.55)
Hero (Button) ($200)
SB ($263.05)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, J
3 folds, Hero bets $5, 1 fold, BB raises to $20, Hero calls $15

Flop: ($41) A, K, 10 (2 players)
BB bets $25, Hero calls $25

Turn: ($91) J (2 players)
BB bets $52, Hero calls $52

River: ($195) 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $103 (All-In), BB calls $103

Total pot: $401 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had K, J (two pair, Kings and Jacks).
BB had Q, A (straight, Ace high).
Outcome: BB won $398

When he checked the river, I decided to turn my hand into a bluff to get him off a better two-pair, figuring he’s never checking a straight here. Whoops!  Read the complete post...

I’m probably good here sometimes, and it’s close whether a call is better than a fold, but I think raising wins me the pot almost 100% of the time:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 ($1114)
MP1 ($1249.25)
MP2 ($1000)
MP3 ($1099.75)
CO ($1656)
Hero (Button) ($4392.25)
SB ($1693)
BB ($1205)
UTG ($1257.15)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 10, 10
6 folds, Hero bets $25, SB calls $20, 1 fold

Flop: ($60) 10, 8, A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $44, SB calls $44

Turn: ($148) 9 (2 players)
SB bets $110, Hero calls $110

River: ($368) 7 (2 players)
SB bets $285, Hero raises to $1223, 1 fold

Total pot: $938 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero didn’t show 10, 10 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $935

Villain can very easily have a straight here, most like QJ for a flopped double gutter, but he never has a flush unless it’s exactly QcJc. I, on the other hand, could very easily have a flush, and I don’t think this is a spot where Villain expects to see many bluffs.

The FTOPS main event started at 3PM PST. I busted the NAPT around 3:20 and booked it back up to my room to late register. Obviously immediately after experience some bad luck in a big live tournament, I wasn’t in a mindset to play the best poker of my life, but I didn’t want to miss a juicy $500 tournament. Hard to say whether that was a good decision though. Here are the two big pots that did me in:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t7733)
CO (t8986)
Button (t7340)
SB (t7032)
Hero (BB) (t8773)
UTG (t4813)
UTG+1 (t14044)
MP1 (t1738)
MP2 (t16268)

Hero’s M: 73.11

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6, 5
1 fold, UTG+1 bets t280, 3 folds, CO calls t280, 2 folds, Hero calls t200

Flop: (t880) 4, 7, 6 (3 players)
Hero bets t333, 1 fold, CO calls t333

Turn: (t1546) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t1180, Hero calls t1180

River: (t3906) 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets t3470, Hero calls t3470

Total pot: t10846

Results:
Hero had 6, 5 (two pair, sevens and sixes).
CO had Q, Q (full house, Queens over sevens).
Outcome: CO won t10846  Read the complete post...

My starting table had not a lot of chips but a couple of notable players, including Owen “ocrowe” Crowe, Andrew Chen, Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo, and Lauren Kling. We broke after less than an hour, but I still managed to play a few interesting pots. Also, a very friendly reader named Mark (hi, Mark) recognized me from the Blog and introduced himself, which was cool. A kid at the PCA recognized my voice from Poker Savvy, but I think this is the first time a blog reader I didn’t already know has recognized me.

500/1000/100, I open complete 73o in the SB, Lauren checks.

Flop Ks Js Jc, I check planning to call a bet and bluff river. She checks behind.

Turn 7c, I check, she bets 3000, I call.

River 9d, we check, I show my hand, and it’s good. Owen comments on my playing 73o and predicts that I won’t be giving a lot of walks.

I open raise to 2400 with Ad 2d on the Button, Owen calls on the BB.

Flop Kd 9d 5c. He checks, I bet 3300, he calls.

Turn 8d, he bets into me 6400. This is close, but in retrospect I think a big raise to 24K or so is best (I have about 50K behind). He’s never getting away from any flush and may stack off with two-pair or worse putting me on a semi-bluff. However, I called.  Read the complete post...

75/150 I limp UTG with Ac Qc. Folds to the SB, who completes, and BB checks.

Flop Js Td 9s. Checks to me, I bet 300, SB calls. I think he can have any pair and even a few draws that I’m beating.

Turn 2d. He checks, I bet 900 expecting him to fold anything worse than a pair of Jacks that doesn’t also have a draw.

River 6h. He checks, I bet 1400 expecting him to fold most of his one pair hands. He calls with J9, which is fine.

75/150, I have been very tight but choose to raise to 450 with Jc9c in MP. Jon calls on my left, bad player calls on the CO, spazzy guy calls on the Button, blinds fold.

Flop Js Td 8s. Checks around to button, who bets 600. I call, the others fold.

Turn 6c, we both check.

River Qc, I check and instantly regret it. He’s probably never value betting worse and doesn’t need to bluff all that often. However, he probably calls a bet with lots of stuff, including any two pair and probably any Jack or better if I don’t bet too big.

75/150, I raise Qc 8d to 400 in MP3, Jon calls in the CO, everyone else folds.  Read the complete post...

The table started out pretty soft, with only two players I recognized at the table. Unfortunately, Jon “fatalerror” Aguiar and Bill Chen were on my immediate left. Bill didn’t get involved in too many pots, but Jon sure did.

Early on, I raised 55 on my CO and called a 3-bet from a fishy player in the BB. I made a questionable call on a 932 flop, then turned a 5 to stack his KK.

The table kept getting tougher, with Amnon Fillippi and a few other solid players (but also Dennis Phillips) filling empty seats. A tight-bad player open limped for 300, I made it 1300 with QQ, Jon called, and Amnon shoved 15K from the Button. I reshoved without much thought but ran into AA.

I’d been playing pretty tightly, but at 300/600/75 I opened to 1600 with K9o in MP3. Jon called in the CO, and Amnon called in the BB. Flop came Kh Kd 6d. I bet slightly over half pot, Jon folded, and Amnon called. Turn 8h, he checks, I bet slightly over half pot again, 6400. He tanks and shoves about 20K, I call, he has Jd 5d. River Qd, and he doubles through me and leaves me at 24K.  Read the complete post...